10E2299: Farmers Talk Episode 1 w/ Arthur Willey

A sled-driving/gouda-making/hayride acquaintance of ours Jon Wright of Taylor Farm in Southern Vermont has started a series of interviews called Farmer's Talk about the history, art and craft of farming - for the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont. 

His first episode (and nice gams Jon btw) was an hour long talk with Arthur Willey, a retired dairy farmer who managed the Janeway Farm in South Londonderry, VT. We hear about growing up in the 1930's and 40's, the advent of refrigerated trucks and bulk tanks, and other things that have (or haven't) changed in dairy farming over the last century. Great bit in the middle about dealing with an employee "who could drink pretty well". Not only is this an interesting historical document but suddenly more important too as unfortunately Mr. Willey died this past October... Also love that he is still in the work uniform after all these year. Hoping for a shirt like that to replace my worn one... #turnthecollar

If still reading... we used to visit the Janeway Farm pretty regularly when Senator Janeway owned it back in the late 70s. Their cook made the best apple-pie, and we would play Jack Straws (like pick-up-stix on steroids) while Pops made house calls. 

10E2298: Admiral Boom

I want a ship on my roof like Admiral Boom here. Nautical style for miles... set a cannon up. Be the hit of the town. Fireworks, bells, ropes, excessive copper, funnels, all that. Look lively now Mr Binnacle!

Damn me... The Admiral Boom character (and his home) from the Mary Poppins books/movie actually based on a real person... who lived in Hampstead, London as below.

"Admiral’s House owes its eccentric appearance to Lt Fountain North, who lived here from 1791 until his death in 1811. He constructed the ship’s quarter-deck on the roof that is the house’s most striking feature. Its original owner Admiral Barton is reputed to have fired cannons from the roof to celebrate royal birthdays, a tradition that later led author PL Travers to base Admiral Boom’s house in Mary Poppins on this house." - via ChefPaul

Photo by Maurizio

10E2297: Bully Tools - Snow and Ice/Sod Shovels

Cant imagine why I'm thinking of this... anyhow, as well as foodservicegrade poly Tuffy shovels (which are awesome and don't scratch the hell out of your car/porch), check these Bully Tools made in Ohio - either the mulch/snow shovel above or sod/ice shovel below. Having some kind of "summer" metal shovel (below)  is the secret weapon against frozen city streets.

10E2296: Mr. Benn at Christmas - via MR PORTER

MR PORTER (retail brother site to Net A Porter) have created a scary-good flashback recreation of the British afternoon cartoon Mr. Benn. For the 'Mericans who perhaps never watched this chap from their granny's sitting room rug at age 6... he is a bank-manager-type suburbanite who would visit his local costume shop and rent various rigs (cowboy gear, spacesuit, chef's whites) and then have adventures. Anyhow, the MR PORTER version ostensibly created to introduce their shopping app but the whole done v well. Real deal Mr. Benn below, and parents, lots more on the tubes.

10E2295: That Backhill Look

Woolrich helmet liner and plaid goggs.
Wolverine (USA) lined work gloves, $27.
Topo Designs fleece, with nanamica x Johnson Woollen Mills CPO.
Owner Operator snow pants.
Gnu 158 and Union bindings.
Sorels. Fake vintage recreations...
Copper flask just incase (or 145 miniatures)... afterwards warm up w/ pizza from Hapgood store.

View looking up the back hill on Sunday.

10E2294: Gift Guide

 Home office essential kit. Ok may not brew at 12 bars of pressure but simplicity itself.

 Ursa Major "try me" pack $3. #nobrainer

SmartWool  $18 via Sierra Trading Post.

Nashville/Criterion edition $32. 3 reasons; music, Altman, ensemble.

Deadstock chambray via the 'bay. Or deadstock Wrangler, or Lee jacket...

Cast iron griddle. Lodge $30. 

Use ours every weekend - pancakes for breakfast, leave it on the stove for grilled cheese lunch.

10E2293: Bobos Mountain Sugar

Sugar means maple syrup in Vermont. Our friends doing a huge deal right now: $22 for a quarter of a gallon - free shipping [jeezum crow -ed] - buy now. #tasteoftree

10E2292: Smoke Your Own Salmon - Tim Hayward

The fine art of the reblog... via the Guardian: "Tim Hayward visits London's Billingsgate fish market, a builder's merchant, sources some electrical equipment on eBay [Amazon -ed.] ... then shows us how to combine his unusual purchases to produce the finest home-smoked salmon". Automatic reblog...

Mentioned this guy Tim Hayward a few times before (start here); he is a British foodwriter/do-er, and along with his wife has revitalized an old bakery in Cambridge, England called Fitzbillies. As well as writing for the Guardian and FT he has a book out called Food DIY (easier to get in UK). As he says in the clip below "not suggesting you do it every week... just do it once, understand how it operates, how it works and reconnect...". Beyond just smoking a bit of salmon, I'd suggest the "it" he means here is our relation to food in general. Good stuff. He also does a solid line in twitter chat - especially when on the late-train back from London... @timhayward.

10E2291: Christmas Shopping Tips No 1 – Saving Money

When not creating hand-knit tweed ties or securing thrift store sweaters (unworn), our Scottish mum rattles off amusing notes. Been collecting them for a while but this one timely...  

"Start your trip into town with first on the list being "buy some wrapping paper" –preferably 2 or 3 rolls of the really heavy kind 10 meters and all encased in cellophane. 

Very awkward to start with and really off putting to further shopping... These have to be the most unwieldy items to carry from store to home in the entire world. They stick out of any carry bag or slide out onto the pavement  – become almost impossible to transport without swinging round and swiping someone getting on or off the bus! 

Look for presale on Christmas decorations - the reversible red to silver wrap just up “Martha “ street to be twizzled with scarlet and silver ribbon ties and some red berries. Ok last year it was 3 for 1 at Poundland but was tempted with this admittedly obvious style over contents of the actual gift etc. But that’s the secret anyway of wrapping for impact...  

The saving is not just in the price but in the pressing need to get home as soon as you can with this impossible package and therefore no straying to window shop or linger over post shopping (smug satisfaction) Christmas spiced coffee! P.S. you will anyway get some great ideas and treasures in your favourite charity shop thus avoiding the crowds and giving a present money can’t buy.  

Just remember; go wild on the wrapping!"

10E2290: Sun Mountain Sessions 2013 - Bromley

Attn parents: If you are wintering near Bromley in southern Vermont over the Christmas break there is a neat and inexpensive option for a youth snowboard camp. Dec 26th through Dec 28th - 3 days of shredtacular coaching and instruction called the Sun Mountain Sessions. Cost is $125 for the 3 days (or $50 per), lift ticket required. Certainly frees up mom and dad to get some runs... Yeaaah point it! We'll be roaming around too. One of the coaches, Andrew Maness, is a 10engines friend and gave me a quick quote;

"As always guest coaches will be stopping by to hang and show the kids what hidden gems Bromley has to offer. New for this year are 3 daily contests with prizes being handed out at the pizza party on the final day of camp. [cue J.J.Hapgood store's new pizza oven -ed.] Campers ages 12 and up of all skill levels are welcome. If you’re new to snowboarding just let the folks know so we can make arrangements for special instruction. 

We've had a few kids doing it since the start so we've got to watch them grow up which is pretty cool." 

Video below from last year. To register for the Sun Sessions contact the Bromley Ski&Snowboard School at (802) 824-5522 x301. 

10E2289: Tintin's Black Island Was Actually Gold

Ile D'Or by  Cliff_Barnes

Tintin's creator, cartoonist Hergé (real name Georges Prosper Remi - the pen name stands for RG his initials reversed...) released L'Ile Noire (The Black Island) as the seventh in the Adventures of Tintin series. As a visitor to the Cote D'Azur on the south of France he would have been familiar with the sight of Ile D'Or (Golden Island) off St. Raphael. Many believe that was the inspiration for the look of L'Ile Noire.

Current cover                                                        Older cover

The Black Island story is infact set in Scotland, and if a Scottish location needed in future one might imagine the castle of Lindisfarne (Holy Island) being considered.  Great book nevertheless.

10E2288: 2014 USA Snowboard Uniform - by Burton

Photo © The Burton Corporation

For the upcoming 2014 Olympics in Sochi, the USA snowboard team is again kitted out by Burton (the 2000 uniform here). The uniform jacket as above was inspired by an old quilt and flag bought at Brimfield market - then resewn by a contact in Vermont. The pants are a "corduroy". There is also a puffy version of the jacket based on Burton's Wanderer block [probably -ed.] with the same quilt-print for off-hill. V tasty.

The kit does not look especially technical for sure - but infact boasts a U.S. Army R&D'd Vaporshell laminate on top (the patchwork quilt-look is a sublimated print) and Burton's own Nanoshell for the cord snowpants. Sharp customers might project a dose of RRL in here and would not be surprised (esp w/ the Brimfield scouting trip added) if someone/somewhere migrated from Ralph Lauren. I don't know the answer myself. Like it or not they weren't lazy about it.  

"...the 2014 uniform builds on Burton’s legacy of creating fun, unconventional designs that stray from the formal, traditional look of most uniforms... The vintage quilt and flag print of the jacket combined with the corduroy pants give the uniform a ‘heirloom hippy’ vibe that lines up with snowboarding’s laid-back culture while paying respect to America’s longstanding creative heritage..." -Greg Dacyshyn, Chief Creative Officer, Burton Snowboards.

Photo © The Burton Corporation

10E2287: Rumpl

I am halfway through reading The White Spider, about the first successful ascent of the Eiger's north face (where the brand name North Face comes from don't ya know...). Anyhow amidst all the crampons through the hand and campstove coffee are fascinating bivouac descriptions detailing the rest periods taken by the climbers. Then through the inbox comes this; Rumpl.

"A modern blanket inspired by active lifestyles and made from materials developed for the outdoor industry."

Aimed at home and travel use (quite apart from the cheeky image above) - they are doing the Kickstarter/presale dance to get going. Synthetic inner and outer made from "ultra-fine 20D Ripstop nylon and coated with DWR to repel water, even after many washes". For those not into wool blankets and want wash/dry ease this might be a good option. Holiday delivery possible it looks like. More here.

10E2286: Burton 2L Workwear/Boro Print

Called a workwear print from Burton, clean lined 2L jacket from the [ak] line. Print reminiscent of the fix/repair Japanese boro patchwork style. $400...

10E2285: The Compleat Angler

The Compleat Angler (sometimes subtitled The Contemplative Man's Recreation) by Englishman Izaak Walton is a celebration of fishing and the English countryside but more than that... In print for over 350 years the book is framed as conversation between an experienced angler and his student (and you, gentle reader), with discussion of all manner of fish, fishing and lures, cooking and eating techniques. Also a love letter to the country life.

This was almost right of passage reading material for some reason around us - Anglophied New Englanders maybe?? Anyhow, read it now via Gutenberg - or even email their kindled file to you for reading later on the T.